Rio case shows China should clarify its 'state secrets' law

And, on August 11, when Mr. Hu and the three other Rio Tito employees were formally arrested, the charges leveled against them were suspicions of commercial bribery and trade secrets infringement rather than espionage, the punishment of which could be death.

Of course, China like all countries has the right to protect genuine state secrets. The problem is that the punishment is so harsh and the law is so widely drafted that almost anything can be considered a state secret.

So far, state secret charges have primarily been leveled against Chinese citizens, who are often not allowed to be legally represented, while by law the state does not have to present its evidence in court.

Such a state of affairs is certainly not acceptable where foreign nationals are concerned. And a law that cannot properly be used to defend the country's interests against foreigners is worse than no law.

What China needs is a revised state secrets law that defines much more precisely what state secrets are, without the use of ambiguous terms. China also needs to differentiate between espionage and legitimate market research.

By sheer coincidence, the government is actually planning to amend the state secrets law. However, the proposed amendments appear aimed at strengthening rules for protecting state secrets. They may, in fact, make the law even worse.

However, now that the Stern Hu affair has publicized in rather stark terms the defects of the state secrets law, Beijing should take this opportunity to narrow the scope of state secrets so as to eliminate excessive secrecy and to get rid of ambiguity.

Doing so would also go far to reassure the world—not just the business community—that China does not intend to throw its weight around after it becomes not only a major economic and trade power but a formidable political and military power as well. If that is done some good may actually come out of the entire Rio Tinto affair.

Frank.ching@gmail.com

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